Improving Labelling of Homeopathic Products 

Patients for Patient Safety Canada (PFPSC) and Healthcare Excellence Canada (formerly Canadian Patient Safety Institute), with advice from Health Canada, partnered to conduct these consumer discussion groups. PFPSC engaged the services of an independent consultant, Dr. Diane Aubin of Diane Aubin Consulting (DAC), to recruit participants, facilitate the discussion groups, and report on the results. 

As you may know, Health Canada is currently in the process of updating the labelling requirements for all natural health products (NHPs), including homeopathic products, as part of the improved NHP labelling proposal. Within this initiative, Health Canada is proposing changes to its approach to the labelling of homeopathic products to increase transparency with consumers about the basis of the approval of these products. As part of this work, Health Canada is proposing to expand the use of a statement on homeopathic products that will clarify that authorization of these products is not based on modern scientific evidence.  

The report on the discussion groups with consumers form the basis of PFPSC’s and HEC’s feedback on this proposal to ensure that the proposed statement language is clear and the formatting increases visibility for consumers. The purpose of the discussion groups was to provide Health Canada with consumer feedback on proposed homeopathic statement options, including the wording and format of the statement.